Mark Gjonaj ( ; born December 1968) is an American politician who served in the

New York City Council The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of New York City. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five Borough (New York City), boroughs. The council serves as a check against the Mayor of New York City, mayor in a may ...

from the 13th district from 2018 to 2021. He previously represented the 80th district of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

from 2013 to 2017. His district encompasses Morris Park,

Pelham Parkway The Bronx and Pelham Parkway, also known formally as the Bronx–Pelham Parkway but called Pelham Parkway in everyday use, is a parkway in the borough of the Bronx in New York City. The road begins in Bronx Park at the Bronx River Parkway and U ...

, Pelham Gardens, and Norwood, among other communities of

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

Early life and education

Gjonaj was born in the Bronx to an Albanian family from

Reč Reč ( cyrl, Реч; sq, Reç) is a small town in the municipality of Ulcinj, southeastern Montenegro.Reč is mentioned in 1413 in the Scutarias taxable income part of the Albanian (''arbanas'') ''katun'' (semi-nomadic pastoral community) of Gjo ...

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

. He attended St. Raymond High School for Boys and graduated from St. John's University with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Career

Gjonaj is the president of M P Realty Group Corp., a real estate brokerage firm that he founded in 1999. His political experience prior to election was as a member of the

New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

New York State Assembly

Gjonaj defeated incumbent assemblywoman

Naomi Rivera Naomi Rivera (born May 10, 1963) was a United States politician of the Democratic Party who represented District 80 in the New York State Assembly from 2005 to 2012. Her district encompassed Morris Park, Bronx Park East, Pelham Gardens, and ...

in the 2012 Democratic primary race. On November 6, 2012, he won the general election with 79% of the vote.

New York City Council

In 2017, Gjonaj entered the race to represent the 13th District of the

, to replace Councilman

James Vacca James Vacca is an American politician who served in the New York City Council from the 13th district from 2006 to 2017. He is a Democrat. The district includes Allerton, Baychester, Bronx Park, City Island, Country Club, Ferry Point Park, ...

, who had to step down due to

term limit A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

s. Gjonaj won the five-way primary with 39% of the vote. On November 8, 2017, Gjonaj won his bid to replace New York City Councilman James Vacca, defeating the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

candidate John Cerini by a margin of 49% to 36%. In 2020, in response to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

and the ensuing recession, Gjonaj introduced a bill to cap fees charged by delivery applications (e.g.

Grubhub Grubhub Inc. is an American online and mobile prepared food ordering and delivery platform. The company is based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 2004, it is a subsidiary of the Dutch company Just Eat Takeaway since 2021. Grubhub has been criti ...

Controversies

In 2017, Gjonaj confirmed that he had used over $17,000 of donor funds to sue New York City for siting homeless shelters and mental health facilities in the Bronx. In August 2018, Gjonaj was filmed chanting "shame" at

Alessandra Biaggi Alessandra Rose Biaggi (born May 20, 1986) is an American politician serving as a member of the New York State Senate since 2019, representing the 34th district, which includes portions of Bronx and Westchester Counties. She is the chair of th ...

, who was running in a primary against incumbent State Senator

Jeffrey D. Klein Jeffrey David Klein (born July 10, 1960) is an American politician and a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. He represented the New York State Senate's New York's 34th State Senate district, 34th District, serving p ...

. Gjonaj's chief of staff said that he was angry at Biaggi's support for bike infrastructure. Biaggi won the primary.

Election history

References

1968 births Living people Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly New York City Council members American people of Albanian descent 21st-century American politicians St. John's University (New York City) alumni American people of Montenegrin descent Politicians from the Bronx {{NewYork-NYAssembly-stub